Should South Windsor prohibit open carry of firearms inside municipal buildings? That’s what was discussed at a town meeting Monday night.
Residents on both sides gave their perspective.
“Their feel-good ordinance does nothing to protect anyone,” said South Windsor resident Rick Balboni.
“The only thing wrong with the proposal is it doesn’t go far enough,” said South Windsor resident Elizabeth McGuire.
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On Monday night, residents came out to voice their thoughts on a proposed ordinance. It would require anyone possessing an electronic defense weapon, pistol or revolver to conceal it from view in a municipal building.
It would also prohibit possessing a deadly weapon, assault weapon or firearm, other than a pistol, revolver or electronic defense weapon, while inside a municipal building.
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“We heard from staff. We heard from volunteers. We heard from concerned residents about where we are in the state of the world and what can we do for our municipal buildings,” said South Windsor Mayor Liz Pendleton.
The mayor said she wanted to have residents come out and give their thoughts on the ordinance and to understand what residents want to see.
On Monday night, a small number of people spoke. Most were against the ordinance.
“I support people’s ability to open-carry firearms. Once again, I think there’s more training and safety than ever before,” said a Suffield resident.
“Politicians waste their time focusing on guns when the problem is so obviously the mental health of the monsters pulling the trigger,” Balboni said.
“This is our town, our community. And we have a right to enact ordinances that we believe protect public safety. This proposed ordinance should be one of them,” McGuire said.
Some councilors discussed concerns over potential lawsuits and also worried that the ordinance was a knee-jerk reaction.
“What is the problem that this ordinance is meant to solve?” asked Councilor Marek Kozikowski.
The mayor said her hope was to have an intelligent, helpful and healthy conversation. She said they were able to have that Monday night.
“We need to hear our community. We need to hear what are the concerns to our community. We need to hear from everyone in our community, from gun carriers to non-gun carriers,” Pendleton said.
The ordinance would not apply to on-duty police officers.
The councilors agreed to continuing the discussion with an open forum for staff and for the public to hear from experts and to take questions, comments and concerns.
